We enter the nocturnes' world due to an album signed by pianist Alice Sara Ott, launched February 7th, 2025, by the studio Deutsche Grammophon. Still, it is not, as we may have expected, the nocturnes' world of Frederic Chopin, but that of the Irish composer John Field, who remains in music history as the creator of this specific romantic genre: John Field is the first in music history to write a set of works named Nocturnes. It was 1814 when Field published his 18 Nocturnesthat we will be listening to today.

John Field (1782 - 1837) was contemporary with Carl Maria von Weber, for example, an early Romantic. He was born in Dublin and died in Moscow. Starting in 1802, he pursued his career in Russia, in Sankt Petersburg and Moscow, as a pianist, composer, professor, and businessman dealing with pianos; his life is said to have been extravagant. If his own creation is less known today, his influence on other composers is very important. Frederic Chopin knew and admired his creation, adopting from him the nocturne and transforming it into a symbol of romantic music. The entire Russian school of creation owes, in a way, its existence to him. Field was professor to Mihail Ivannovich Glinka, the first great Russian composer in music history, and an example for those who followed after him.

Listening to the 18 Nocturnes, we notice in the case of the first ones a classicizing note and a spirit that is more playful than nocturnal. Other nocturnes are very similar to what Frederic Chopin would later write. We also encounter a nocturne entitled Song without Words - Mendelssohn would compose his famous songs without words in 1829 and 1845. It is a very diverse world, full of colors and shadows, admirably brought to life by the interpretation of pianist Alice Sara Ott.

Alice Sara Ott is 36 years old today; I remember her, in 2012, with a memorable recital she gave at the Radio Hall in Bucharest, for the 15th anniversary of the launch of Radio România Muzical - fragile and yet so powerful, an appearance full of light that filled the stage, even though she was alone there, in her bare feet, as she still sings today.

Today, we are listening to Alice Sara Ott's fifteenth original album for Deutsche Grammophon - the first was released in 2009, when Alice was 21 years old. She has performed with the most important orchestras in Europe, America, and Japan, and her life was such that she used to wonder when she woke up in which city she was, so often appearing on a different concert stage. A very intense and very stressful life, which probably led to the diagnosis she was given in 2019, at the age of 30, of multiple sclerosis, the same disease that Jacqueline du Pre had, who left this world at only 42 years old. In Alice Sara Ott's case, after treatment, all symptoms disappeared and she leads an almost normal life, in which, however, the projects are fewer and better chosen. For example, in the field of discography, after 2019, Alice Sara Ott has signed only four projects: Echoes of Life - an absolutely moving sound document about her own life, then Wonderland - with works by Edvard Grieg, a Beethoven album, and now, this complete set of nocturnes by John Field.

Alice Sara Ott is, first of all, a very intelligent pianist, with great sensitivity and the capacity to transmit emotions to the audience. In a unique way, she combines both the minimalist spirit specific to Japan - her mother was born in Japan, as well as the analytic mind of Germany - her father is Dutch. That is, exactly those qualities that are needed to achieve a successful interpretation of works that are not masterpieces, but which discover a new life under her fingers.